Insights into food webs associated with the South American tomato pinworm.

Background: The complexity of both natural and managed ecosystems involves various forms of interaction among organisms. Two or more species that exploit the same resource can engage in competitive behaviours, usually referred to as intraguild interactions. These can be direct, i.

Stage-Related Defense Response Induction in Tomato Plants by Nesidiocoris tenuis.

The beneficial effects of direct predation by zoophytophagous biological control agents (BCAs), such as the mirid bug Nesidiocoris tenuis, are well-known. However, the benefits of zoophytophagous BCAs' relation with host plants, via induction of plant defensive responses, have not been investigated until recently. To date, only the females of certain zoophytophagous BCAs have been demonstrated to induce defensive plant responses in tomato plants.